Thüringen

As Allied bombing of the Reich resulted in increased destruction of critical factory areas and disruption in manufacture of Hitler's "Wonder Weapons," the Nazis began to move these and other critical sites underground. The state of Thüringen proved ideal, as it was located in central Germany (furthest from the advancing enemy forces) and had an abundance of deep wooded valleys and rugged terrain (difficult to invade), plus it had several tunnel mines already dug into hillsides, which only required enlarging to use as military facilities.

One of the best known of these sites (of course, it only became generally known after the war) was the Mittelwerk near Nordhausen, where V-1 and V-2 rockets were made by slave laborers from concentration camps, deep inside a mountain factory. This site is covered on a separate page.

This page shows two other sites in central Thüringen: an underground factory for the Me 262 jet aircraft near Kahla, and an underground facility that may have been meant for the final Führerhauptquartier (FHQ) near Gotha.

One of the most remarkable advancements made by the German military in World War II was the production of turbine-jet aircraft. The most famous of these was the Messerschmitt Me 262, developed beginning in 1938 and fielded in 1944. A special production facility was started in 1944, for quicker assembly line manufacture. Due to the setup at the main Messerschmitt factories, fast assembly line production was not possible, and these sites were vulnerable to Allied bombing. Accordingly, a company called Flugzeugwerke Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (REIMAHG for short) was formed as a subsidiary of the Gustloff Nazi industrial complex. REIMAHG eventually became concerned only with the Me 262, and its main production facility was located in an old porcelain sand mine in the Walpersberg Hill near Kahla (south of Jena) -- Codename "Lachs" ("Salmon").

The existing tunnels in the Walpersberg were enlarged and others were dug, and massive concrete bunkers were built outside these tunnels. Subparts were made and partially assembled in the tunnels, then moved outside to the concrete bunkers, where final assembly took place. The assembled jets were then moved to the top of the hill via a platform that moved along a railed ramp by a power winch. The top of the Walpersberg had been leveled off and concreted in a massive construction effort, to form a runway some 3300 feet long. This was not sufficient for an Me 262 to take off (even with the jet engines, take-off was actually fairly slow), so small rockets assisted take-off. The runway was also too short for the jets to land, so leaving the Walpersberg was an all-or-nothing proposition: there could be no emergency landings. The jets were flown from Kahla to a site some 130 kilometers away to be fitted with weapons and radios, and to undergo final testing.

REIMAHG only managed to produce some twenty-seven Me 262 jet fighters by the end of the war. The work was done mostly by foreign forced laborers, some 991 of whom died during their nine months at "Lachs." The U.S. Army took the site on 12 April 1945, and before turning Thüringen over to the Soviets in July, they removed enough parts to finish five Me 262s that were found on the production line. Surprisingly, the Kahla area had not been bombed. British Intelligence had photographed Me 262s at the site in March 1945, so the Allies were well aware of "Lachs." But Kahla was spared the fate of the V-2 works at Nordhausen, which suffered a devastating bombing attack only eight days before the American Army arrived. (In spite of this historical report, the REIMAHG-Kahla site today shows many depressions that look very much like bomb craters that can be seen at such sites as Normandy and the Obersalzberg, and many areas that appear to have undergone explosive upheaval, all in areas that were flat during the war. This situation is apparently the result of Soviet activity after the war.)

Beginning in 1947, the Soviets blew up the concrete bunkers and assembly buildings, and also the entrances to most of the tunnels, including destruction of the concrete runway on the hilltop. However, the concrete buildings had reinforced walls some 10 feet thick, so in many cases, the explosions only collapsed the roofs. REIMAHG-Kahla remains today one of the most extensive Third Reich ruins sites, with the walls and foundations of most of the concrete assembly and workshop buildings, some still supporting parts of their roofs. The site is not generallyopen to the public.

Part of an aerial view of the site, taken by British photo-reconnaissance on 19 March 1945. The Walpersberg with its hilltop runway is at the top. A tiny Me 262 can be seen just at the top of the ramp, beside the runway. Various bunkers and assembly buildings can be seen along the cleared area at the bottom of the slope, to the right of the ramp bottom. The dark blotches on the runway, to the right of the ramp, were apparently an attempt at painted camouflage. (Combined Intelligence Objectives Sub-committee (CIOS) - Underground Factories in Central Germany, London, 1945)

Artist's concept of the site, based on the aerial photographs. The massive concrete bunkers can be seen along the bottom of the slope. (from Joan David, "Sky Spies," in Flying, Vol. 37 (1945), page 42)

Partial view of the REIMAHG site today, as seen from the southeast. The large concrete bunker seen on the right, above the village of Großeutersdorf, was Bunker 4. This long bunker can be seen near the right side of the site drawing above. Further remains can be seen to the left in this photo.


Compare this 1945 photo of Bunker 4 to a similar view of the remains of Bunker 4 today. The roof has been collapsed, and only parts of the front and back walls remain. Bunker 4 was the largest, measuring 100 meters long and 15 meters wide, and it is the largest ruin remaining at the REIMAHG site. The tail of the Me 262 was assembled in Bunker 4. (National Archives, RG 111-SC 203644)


Part of the rear wall of Bunker 4, showing the former entrance to one of the tunnels, going back into the hillside. The assembly bunkers were originally wooden hangars, which were covered by reinforced concrete some 3 meters (10 feet) thick.	A memorial has been placed on the side of Bunker 4 by the Association for the Preservation of the History of REIMAHG, to honor the memory of the forced laborers who worked and died there.


In the foreground is Bunker 2. The next (shorter) building was Workshop 2, and behind it was Bunker 0, which had an additional two stories of offices and living quarters for headquarters staff on its top. (Günter Schörlitz collection)	Little remains of the front of Bunker 2 but large concrete chunks and foundations, but a large piece of the rear wall remains. Bunker 2 was used for aircraft tuning


The collapsed remains of Workshop 2. These workshops had 2-meter thick walls of reinforced concrete.	Workshop 1 has more substantial remains, including partial walls of the office spaces above.

View looking down the row of bunkers, with Bunker 0 at the left edge of the photo, followed by Workshop 1 (the angled building), then Bunker 1 on the right. A log house belonging to Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel (Nazi leader of Thüringen) can be seen in the woods behind and above Workshop 1. Sauckel played a major role in the running of REIMAHG and the Gustloff-Werke. (National Archives, RG 111-SC 203642)


Bunker 0, which was built against the hillside, covered the main tunnels 34 and 35, and was the location of final aircraft assembly, as seen in the 1945 photo on the right. The side entrance to Bunker 0 was closed by a set of huge sliding doors. (U.S. National Archives, RG 111-SC)


Parts of the front and rear walls of Bunker 0 remain today. The front wall, on the right, shows pock marks that are reportedly the result of tank gunfire, from when the Soviets used this site as a gunnery range following World War II.


Wall and collapsed roof of one of the bunkers, with iron rails and reinforcements.	View of the rear wall of one of the bunkers, showing the iron reinforcement rods in the concrete.


Bunker 1 was used for fuselage assembly. In common with Bunker 2, it had a sloped roof designed to deflect bombs. Tunnel entrance IV was in the hillside just to the right of Bunker 1. (CIOS Report)	An unfinished tunnel on the site today. This was a pilot tunnel that was being excavated on a level above the other tunnel entrances.


The entrances to the major tunnels were in the rear walls of the assembly buildings, but many of the smaller tunnels had entrances that were let directly into the hillside. This is Tunnel entrance I, which led into the part of the old porcelain sand mine that was used by REIMAHG. This entrance was only covered over a few years ago. (National Archives, RG 111-SC 203643)


View of the ramp that carried the completed jets to the runway on the hilltop. (Bundesarchiv Koblenz)	Similar view today. All that remains of the ramp is a shallow depression running up the hillside, with some concrete remains at the bottom.


The area at the top of the ramp, beside the runway. In the middle distance, at the edge of the hillside, can be seen the top of the concrete housing for the winch mechanism. The modern view shows approximately the same angle, but much closer to the edge of the hillside. (Bundesarchiv Koblenz)


Other wooden work buildings were located on the site. These are the foundation remains of Halls 7 and 8, in the valley below the main REIMAHG site. These buildings were used for the repair of machinery.


A standard gauge railway was under construction to serve the REIMAHG site, but it was not completed. Two bridges were built to span the valley below the hillside, and their concrete abutments survive today.

Klaus W. Müller and Willy Schilling, Deckname Lachs. Zella-Mehlis, Heinrich-Jung-Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 3rd Ed., 1996.

Joan David, "Sky Spies," Flying, Vol. 37 (December 1945), pp. 39-42, 106, 108, 111-112.

For those that can find it, the best source of information in English on the Kahla REIMAHG facility is "Underground Factories in Central Germany," by the Combined Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee (CIOS), London, 1945 (Item Nos. 4, 5, 25 & 30, File No. XXXII-17; copies in the U.S. National Archives and Imperial War Museum, London).

NOTE - An association has been formed that is working on a major historical project aiming towards creating a museum inside the former REIMAHG site, as a memorial to the forced laborers who lost their lives there. For further information, contact Patrick Brion at PatrickBrion@hotmail.com, or see www.walpersberg.de.

NOTE - The REIMAHG site was used for ammunition and explosives storage by the East German military until about 1990, and the site has not been completely cleared. It is posted off-limits.